Born December 13th, 1936 to Princess Tajuddawlah in Geneva, Switzerland, Prince Shah Karim Al Hussaini is the fourth Aga Khan and 49th Ismaili Imam. Known variously as Hazar Imam or Mawla to his followers, he is a British citizen, raised in Kenya, educated at Harvard, who owns property in Italy and has his primary residence in Aiglemont, France. Building on the work of his grandfather, Sir Sultan Muhammed Shah, he has transformed the office of the Imam into the role of an international dignitary.
Today, December 13th, in a one-roomed wooden house in the Tajik mountains, a small neighbourhood will crowd around a metal _pechka_ (stove), caring little for the numbness in their crossed legs, or the cold at their backs. The lights will be off, the sun having set behind the mountains that close in on all sides, and the only sound will be the exicited anticipation of young children.
The more we listen to Khalil Andani, the more we appreciate his brilliance. He is a disciplined scholar and a fantastically clear communicator. In this video, recorded last month, Mr Andani gives us a wonderful summary of the Aga Khan's view of pluralism, its origins in Islam and in the global situation, and its application to today's world.
500 years of doubt and concealment were brought to an end in the mid-18th century as the 43rd Imam of the Ismaili faith came out of hiding in south eastern Iran.
But it's with the 46th Imam, Hasan 'Ali Shah, that Ismaili history took a turn.
PBS' Religion and Ethics program focussed this week on the Aga Khan. Their 10 minute interview/documentary can be viewed here.
Most interesting is the response of the various Ismailis interviewed as they talk about their Imam.
History in the making here as the Aga Khan recently signed an agreement with the nation of Portugal for the establishment there of the permanent Seat of the Imamat for at least the next 25 years.
This is the first time in modern Ismaili history that the Imamat (office of the Imam) has had a physical home.
At the end of last month the Aga Khan was invited by Canada's Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, to address their parliament.
You can read a summary of that address or even watch the entire 45 minutes *here*
The Aga Khan featured prominently in the news over the weekend following the conclusion of what has been a 10 year legal battle to divorce his second wife, German Princess Gabriele zu Leiningen .
The British paper, the *Daily Telegraph* reported,
"the case exposed the man who claims to be the direct descendant of the Prophet Mohammed to accusations of an affair with an air hostess."
So who is the Aga Khan? Ask a widow who's benefited from his NGO and she'll tell you he's a great man who provided for her family after last year's floods. Ask a media hack and you'll hear he's a billionaire whose enthusiasm for race horses is exceeded only by his interest in women. Allegedly. Ask Prince Charles and you'll discover he's a passionate statesman committed to bridging the gap between East and West, Muslim and Christian.
